Compassion Fatigue Among Healthcare, Emergency And Community Service Workers: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract:Compassion fatigue (CF) is stress resulting from exposure to a traumatized individual. CF has been described as the convergence of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and cumulative burnout (BO), a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by a depleted ability to cope with one's everyday environment. Professionals regularly exposed to the traumatic experiences of the people they service, such as healthcare, emergency and community service workers, are particularly susceptible to developing CF. This can impact standards of patient care, relationships with colleagues, or lead to more serious mental health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety or depression. A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions to reduce CF in healthcare, emergency and community service workers was conducted. Thirteen relevant studies were identified, the majority of which were conducted on nurses (n = 10). Three included studies focused on community service workers (social workers, disability sector workers), while no studies targeting emergency service workers were identified. Seven studies reported a significant difference post-intervention in BO (n = 4) or STS (n = 3). This review revealed that evidence of the effectiveness of CF interventions in at-risk health and social care professions is relatively recent. Therefore, we recommend more research to determine how best to protect vulnerable workers at work to prevent not only CF, but also the health and economic consequences related to the ensuing, and more disabling, physical and mental health outcomes.

Extent of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout in nursing: A meta-analysis

“…with greatly reduced feelings of compassion toward another's suffering (Bush, 2009;Cocker & Joss, 2016). Whereas compassion fatigue is rapid in onset, burnout is a slowly progressing disorder usually seen in a burdensome organisational environment (Slatten, David, & Carson, 2011).…”

Impact of dealing with bereaved clients on the psychological wellbeing of veterinarians

“…Compassion fatigue is an aspect of occupational stress that individuals in the helping professions are vulnerable to developing . It is defined as a form of secondary traumatic stress that is the natural consequence experienced by clinicians who care for suffering people or animals .…”

Factors Related to Nurses? Attitudes Towards the Suicidal Patient: An Integrative Review

“…The self-reported level of professional capacity to care for the suicidal patient has a direct correlation with nurses' attitude towards caring for those patients who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Although more research is needed to understand the relationship between compassion and attitude, the literature clearly shows that a nurse has a reduced ability to feel sympathy and empathy and an impaired ability to make decisions and to care for patients when experiencing compassion fatigue [30].…”

“…Compassion fatigue is characterized by compassion discomfort, compassion stress, and finally fatigue, "where the compassion energy that is expended by nurses surpasses their ability to recover from this energy expenditure, resulting in significant negative psychological and physical consequences" [29]. The result of compassion fatigue is decreased sympathy and empathy, and an impaired ability to make decisions to care for patients [30].…”